Executive Summary

In the last 20 years, innovation in most industries has come from the inclusion of information technologies and digital tools, making it possible to push further the human limits and bring the complexity of the real physical world into the virtual world. This technological development as an opportunity meets the economic pressure in the terminal operations industry to streamline the businesses.

This whitepaper “An Introduction to the TIC4.0” explains how the need of the industry to agree on standard vocabulary to be able to embrace Industry 4.0 has led to the unique initiative TIC4.0. The challenge to agree on standard vocabulary has been taken up by the industry stakeholders with the foundation of the TIC4.0 association!

What drives the members of TIC4.0 is explained in this whitepaper and a first glimpse on the “heart” of the solution is given with the description of the already agreed semantics and a work-in-progress example.

First very promising steps into right direction have been made and how the organisation TIC4.0 is organised can be found in this article as well. The support and engagement of all parties is a key success factor to bring the standards into real life to finally be able to embrace the 4^th industrial revolution.

Introduction

After over 4000 years of existence, the classical shipping industry entered a booming phase that has lasted several decades following the development of containerization and globalisation. Shipping lines and container terminals are today connecting regions and markets around the globe feeding the consumer demand for products and continue to keep up with our changing world.

In the last 20 years, innovation in most industries has come from the inclusion of information technologies and digital tools, making it possible to push further the human limits and bring the complexity of the real physical world into the virtual world. Today’s almost unlimited computing power can be used to transform the work that is currently done manually without health and safety risks and opens the possibilities for further innovations such as Internet of Things and the deployment of artificial intelligence.

This new era of innovation is best explained by the ‘digitalization’ of reality: processes, equipment, actions, events must be digital or virtual if the container industry is to fully embrace and experience the benefits of this new technology. This development is already embedded in many parts of our lives and many industries have embraced the opportunities given by this new technology.

Due to separate development paths in several regions around the world during the first decades of containerization, terminal operation solutions have not adopted a common understanding for the meaning of even fundamental industry vocabulary such as berths, vessels, processes, equipment, or people engaged in the operations of such equipment.

You can find a multitude of varying descriptions with different words, sentences, protocols, or in other words, languages for the same unique physical element, making it unusable for virtual representation and use of new technologies. For example: the word “Move” is used in all areas of terminal operations and can refer to certain parts of the process as well as to certain units being handled; the word ‘Cycle’ has different meanings depending on the equipment and brand.

As a result, unlike many other industrial sectors, the shipping and terminal industry have not been able to keep pace with the evolving digital landscape or benefit largely from digitalisation and subsequently automation. For this sector to continue to innovate, we must bring the real world and all its complexities into the digital world and leverage the benefits together.

Today only 3-4% (!) of the world’s 1.000+ terminals have implemented some level of automation, and of that more than half of these are only semi-automated facilities.

There are several reasons for this:

·         Niche market, dedicated and customized solutions takes time making every automated terminal project unique

·         Risk avoidance, as the continuity and success of flow of containers, which are the global trade, needs to be protected. ‘It is going well, and the margins are good, why change?’ 

However, it is evident that wide scale, cost efficient and risk-free automation is the future of our industry and will satisfy the ever-increasing efficiency, health and safety priorities, availability of labour and productivity needs.

To be able to achieve this or to digitalize as a first step, the need to agree on standards is a fundamental prerequisite to be able to implement the new technologies efficiently and successfully. In the past there was no need to have these standards, as every region around the globe, had their own concept of terminal operation introduced for some time with their own specialized container handling equipment. In the ‘old days’ there was no internet and no need to connect the equipment. The interface was human, control tower operators talked with the equipment drivers using printouts of the inventory (sometimes hand drawn and coloured).

In today’s world, even when you are not thinking of an automated terminal, the terminal operators expect that they will be able to exchange information with their fleet of equipment. As in our day-to-day life and in many other industries the concept of “Internet of things” (or Industry 4.0) is already there. To be able to connect the equipment we need to agree that we talk the same language and use the same words and definitions. 

This challenge has been taken up by the industry stakeholders with the foundation of the TIC4.0 association! TIC4.0 re-groups container terminal operators and their suppliers of terminal equipment and solutions to properly define and agree on unique physical elements using a commonly agreed vocabulary, grammar, and protocols for digital transformation, in other words agreeing on a common language for the container industry.

This common language will apply not only to the machine but also to all the people that are going to work with this virtualization.  Without a common language, semantic and standards, digitalization in the container industry will remain mostly an exception and the cost in resources and time to implement new technologies will be very high, if not prohibitive. Detailed common definitions of the real objects, a grammar, and semantic, and fewer protocols to facilitate the interconnectivity will be required to make the 4th industrial revolution in our 4000 years old industry a reality.

Need for standards in the industry leads to foundation of TIC4.0

During the last 30 years the terminal industry has tried to implement new technologies by introducing automation into terminal operations. Several so called ‘automated’ terminals were built. However, many of these projects have not delivered the expected outcome for the stakeholders. Automation implementation and the start-up phase took much longer than planned, the final cost exceeded the budget, and the promised productivity was not achieved. The main reason is that every automation project was unique and custom built and the terminal as well as the automation providers all have their own understanding and way of working, which means that for every project, many wheels were re-invented again and again.

The lessons learnt over the last decade from these projects highlighted the importance of creating a common goal among the terminal operators and stakeholders to work together to agree on standardized language and vocabulary for terminal operations, to ensure that all parties will have the same understanding and reference when working together in bringing in new technologies.

The need to bring parties together and align on definitions is also visible in other parts of the maritime supply chain. The International Taskforce Port Call Optimisation (ITPCO) and the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) are two such initiatives, focusing on adjacent parts of the supply chain linked to the terminal. Initial discussions amongst several key players of the terminal industry led to the first workshops on defining the scope of work and the rules of engagement (e.g., compliance, definition process). PEMA (Port Equipment Manufacturer Association) and FEPORT (Federation of European private ports and terminals) have also been very supportive by promoting and endorsing the initiative to their members.

At the end of 2019 the formal TIC4.0 Association was established, seated in Brussels. The ‘founding fathers’ were key terminal operators and solution providers like Hyster-Yale, Kalmar, Konecranes, Kuenz, Liebherr, NAVIS, RBS, SICK, TBA, TMEIC, ZPMC, APMT, Bollore, Eurogate, PSA, Terminal Link, MMC Ports and Yilport. Since then, several other organizations have also joined this initiative.

How does the industry benefit from standard vocabulary?

The importance of having standard vocabulary and definitions can best be illustrated by the Human and Digital Platform Use case examples described below.

Human use case

Two people from different departments in a terminal organisation try to communicate a simple message but without an agreed vocabulary and definition, the message will be misunderstood.

Open

Systems use case for interoperability of physical equipment and digital platforms

The container terminal operation relies on a fleet of equipment, digital platforms, and human machine interfaces. Efficient and transparent operation of various equipment (e.g., TTs and RTGs) from multiple brands, various platforms (e.g., data storage, business intelligence, maintenance management systems, equipment control systems, terminal operating systems), as well as human machine interfaces is achieved by applying TIC4.0 definitions in this system of systems.

Open

On the left side we have thousands of different physical objects, on the right hundreds of services. The only way to be efficient and cost-effective is having a process for transforming the physical objects into digital representation using state-of-the-art platform tools. TIC4.0 defines standards that will allow the creation of a clear and well-defined digital representation of the terminal operations.

Even for the simplest human message a common semantic (grammar and definition) is critical for the message to be understood and executable. Yes, it can be done without ‘standards’ but at a very high cost and risk.

TIC4.0 Purpose and Objectives

Purpose of TIC4.0

Both Use Cases lead to the purpose of TIC4.0. It is to define a common language, key performance indicators and represent these in an understandable format, including data and information elements enabling the industry to efficiently perform in the terminal operation. The content of the information is usually very focused on the description of the physical actions, which should be useful for the other systems and solutions along the process. Reality is that the physical equipment and hardware are required to execute the required actions. The typical elements that make up the actions are: cargo handling equipment (any kind of machine from the terminal that performs the job), external vehicles (trucks, vessels, trains), terminal infrastructure (berth, yard, gate), or auxiliary elements (energy, light, refuelling). For data driven terminal operations the subject for standardisation is the data and information elements linking the digital solutions to the physical equipment and hardware.

Once the objectives of TIC4.0 are achieved, these will help to streamline terminal operations and maintenance and reach new levels of efficiencies. Terminal operations are part of the highly performing and transparent data driven supply chain of the future. Future terminal operations will be safe, predictable, and efficient. This will be possible by utilizing the industry specific data and information published by TIC4.0.

Objectives of TIC4.0

With the foundation of TIC4.0 the membership unanimously agreed that the key objectives for the Association are: 

1. To identify and define the technical vocabulary specific to the terminal cargo handling industry, starting with the container handling industry.

2. To produce a comprehensive body of information on the definitions, terminologies, and their application to the operational dimension of the terminal industry.

3. To develop messages and protocols that may be adopted by industry stakeholders for seamless data communication.

4. To facilitate the inter-operability of different information sub-systems.

5. To enable the deployment of the TIC4.0 concepts by all interested industry stake holders.

These objectives will be met and implemented by the membership of TIC4.0 who will organise themselves into work groups and develop agreed processes, database content and use the latest publishing software to publish the definition results for the general use of the Association membership and Industry stakeholders.

By being active members, the organizations will have a voice in steering the process, the way of working, but also commit resources to work in small task forces to create the standards.

The TIC4.0 Association will jointly work to develop the grammar and vocabulary of the terminal industry, firstly focusing on the container terminal and container handling. 

The diagram below was generated after the membership proposed that the terminal operators should agree among themselves a schematic diagram on how traffic should be handled/processed through their terminals. The diagram will then be used as a basis to focus attention on specific tasks within sections of the overall container handling process. As a result, the terminal operators produced this diagram, which is now considered to be the main structure from which the building blocks of the key objectives for TIC4.0 are created.

Standardisation of cargo handling operations is a huge task, but it will reward our industry, as well as all the stakeholders of the cargo flow, with re-usable language/vocabulary, transparency, and improved performance. The first task of TIC4.0 was to select the most important business areas to start with. The outcome was the definition of the container terminal operations workflow, terminology, and key performance indicators for the following container handling systems.

• Ship to shore crane and Straddle carrier operations (STS-SC)

• Cantilever Rail Mounted Gantry crane operation with Terminal Tractors (CRMG-TT)

• Rubber Tyre Gantry crane operation with Terminal Tractors (RTG-TT)

• Straddle Carrier and Reach Stacker operations (SC-SC & RST)

• Terminal Tractor and Automatically Guided Vehicle operations (TT/AGV)

Once these are completed and published, the definition process will be extended to the other equipment and system workflows used in terminal operations.

Vocabulary and Definitions

The criteria used by the membership to generate the list of vocabulary and definitions should provide results which are specific, unambiguous, and suitable, irrespective of the level of technology used in a terminal.

Specific: It must be clear which part of the terminal process/equipment is being referred to at a very high level.

Unambiguous: The definition must be clear and precise. All users and systems should have the same understanding.

Irrespective of the level of technology: It should be possible to use in documents, mails and be capable of being upwardly embedded in protocols and electronic messages.

Below is a work-in-progress example of the terminologies:

TIC4.0 Semantics

The information in this section will be further detailed in the next release from TIC4.0 including the first set of definitions. TIC4.0 Semantics is the study of the meaning of the terminology used in the terminal industry. The above given work-in-progress example for the concept “on” is embedded into a grammar (aka semantic), which structures the standard vocabulary, so that it can be used and understood.

Grammar

Grammar is the set of rules that govern the structure of the TIC4.0 language.

Each TIC4.0 message according to the industry terminology, should contain the following 6 basic elements to be specific and unambiguous:

HEADER, SUBJECT, CONCEPT, POINT OF MEASUREMENT, OBSERVED PROPERTY and VALUE elements.

HEADER identifies the message in origin, (destination), time of measurement and unique reference.

SUBJECT (who) is the entity that is doing or being the CONCEPT.

CONCEPT (what is-does) refers always to a particular subject (or subject-subsystem) specifying what the subject is (status) or does (action-event)

POINT OF MEASUREMENT (where) defines where in place and time (past, present, future) the value representing the observed property of the concept is measured and represented.

OBSERVED PROPERTY (how much) is the magnitude of the concept (status, pieces, length, volume, weight, energy, time, speed, power, duration, acceleration…) represented in the value with a specific measurement unit.

VALUE is the actual measured result for a specific combination of time of measurement + subject+ concept + point of measurement + observed property. Several units could be used.

For one header+subject, multiples values combining concept, point of measurement and observed properties.

The combination of HEADER and SUBJECT with multiple combinations of CONCEPTs, POINT OF MEASUREMENTs, OBSERVED PROPERTIES give us a unique meaning of a VALUE.

TIC4.0 aims to define each of these elements.

VALUE

Value is the unique result valid for a specific combination of TIME + SUBJECT + CONCEPT+ POINT OF MEASUREMENT + OBSERVED PROPERTY.

The default unit of measure will be the international system (SI) if other is not specified in the observed property attribute. TIC4.0 default unit is detailed in each concept definition. In case of not using the default, TIC4.0 unit the unit used must be indicated.

1. Speed (km/h)

2. Distance (m)

3. Duration (seconds)

4. Timer (seconds)

5. Total Timer (seconds)

6. Temperature (ºC)

7. Power (kW)

8. Energy (kWh)

9. Voltage (Volt)

10. Coordinate: (lat/long)

11. TimeStamps: ISO8601

Attribute formatting semantic will depend on the protocol selected to transmit the message. The grammar is compatible with the main protocols, included and not limited to:

1. MQTT

2. JSON

3. OPC-UA

4. CanBUS

5. ModBus

6. Profinet (DB fix)

7. Plain text (email, handwritten document, etc.)

Examples

Plain text:

TXT

msg_id: 112333bdsdav3; sender_identifier: CMS234; msg_timestamp 2020-06-04T20:55:08.000Z; register_duration_s: 3 ; subject_id RTG15215; subject_name: MFT-STS01; working_output_status : TRUE; idle_output_status : FALSE; idle_input_status : TRUE; drive_left_input_status_: -0.78; drive_output_speed_km/h: 25; drive_input_speed_%: -0.78; drive_internal_out_power_kw: 125; drive_right_internal_input_status: FALSE; on_internal_out_status : TRUE; on_internal_out_cost_total_€ : 0.8; on_internal_out_cost_energy_€ : 0.2;

msg_id: AAABBBAAAA323; sender_identifier: TOSMFT; msg_timestamp 2020-06-04T20:55:08.000Z; msg_start_timestamp 2019-06-04T20:55:08.000Z; subject_id CLT_ES; subject_name: “ABC Terminal”; subject_type: “terminal”; quay_move_load_output_box : 265.568; quay_move_discharge_output_box : 265.544 ; quay_move_output_box : 531.112 ; quay_move_load_output_teu : 458.548; quay_move_discharge_output_teu : 458.548 ; gate_move_load_output_box : 244; gate_move_discharge_output_box : 258; move_output_box : 531.614 ; move_internal_input_cost_total_€ : 50.444.333;

 JSON

{
"msg_": {

“id": "RlzvyHIBc1hATunVl-ee",

“index": "mft.iot-tos.instant-close.all_2020.06",
”index_type": "_doc",
”version": 2,
”score": null,
"epoch": 1592509051,
"timestamp": "2020-06-18T19:37:31.000Z"

"register_duration_s": "8"
},
"subject_": {
"id": "RTG15215",
"name": MFT-STS01},

“working_”: {
"input_": {
"status": TRUE,},

"output_": {
"status": TRUE, "cost_total_€": 0.2},

},

“drive_”: {
"input_": {
"speed_%": 0.78, "status": TRUE,},

"output_": {
"speed_%": 0.61,"status": TRUE, "cost_total": 0.2},

"internal_out_": {
"power_kw": 125,},

},

“on_”: {
"internal_out_": {
"status": TRUE, "cost_total_€": 0.8, "cost_energy_€": 0.2,},

},

}

A Data Schema will be included for the most common digital protocols.

TIC4.0 Governance and Members

Terminals Industry Committee 4.0 is a non-profit association registered in Brussels, Belgium. General Assembly is the highest ruling body of TIC4.0 on policies, content, and governance. Participation in meetings by all the member companies occurs at least three times a year. The role of the Operations Council is to govern TIC4.0 operations in accordance with decisions reached by the General Assembly. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the association manages and runs TIC4.0 in accordance with the guidelines as set by the General Assembly and the Executive Council.

Any terminal operator or port solution provider is welcome to apply to be a member. The operations of TIC4.0 are funded by the annual membership fee paid by the member companies.

The mission of TIC4.0 is to promote, define and adopt standards that will enable the cargo handling industry to embrace the 4th industrial revolution. All the operations are arranged for the realization of this vision.

TIC4.0 Operations

The operations of TIC4.0 relies on the support and voluntary contributions of the individual member companies as TIC4.0 has no full-time staff apart from the CEO. TIC4.0 does not rely on 3^rd party consultants to produce work.

To prepare for the development of future vocabulary and definitions, there are four groups involved in the TIC4.0 Association for the definition process:

General Assembly

The governing body of the TIC4.0 Association is the General Assembly, formed by all members. The General Assembly shall have full powers to achieve the objectives and activities of TIC4.0. Regarding the definition process, the General Assembly shall have the powers to:

• Approve the annual budgets, membership fee and the financial accounts.

• Formal approval of TIC4.0 definitions and standard results as proposed by the Operation Council

• Annually approve the proposed members of the Operation Council

Operations Council

The Operation Council is the ‘Management Team’ of the Association which is chaired by the CEO of TIC4.0.

The role of the Operations Council is to manage and assign all tasks to create, review and publish definitions. As the owner of the content, it prioritises the work, establishes task forces and assigns tasks to them. The results are then reviewed by the Council prior to publication of the definitions. The Operation Council is selected from the Association members and is re-elected every year by the General Assembly.

Task Forces

The task forces are the core groups creating the definitions for our industry. Task forces are small groups (max. 5 persons), consisting of members and their experts, set up for specific definition and standardization assignments selected by the Operation Council. Using on-line virtual work meetings, the definitions and related description goals can be achieved.  The task forces use guidelines and templates developed by and for TIC4.0, to ensure that the results are consistent and easy to publish.

Digibook Group

The Digibook group compiles the approved definition results and integrates them into a format suitable for publishing. The publishing phase involves proofreading the definitions and using administration publishing tools to manage the versions during the process.

Definition Process

Definitions are generated by TIC4.0 based on the operational processes of a terminal. In a container terminal there are hundreds of processes to operate and manage the cargo as required by customers and regulations.

The overall process from creation to publishing of definitions is illustrated in the below diagram. The schematic diagram of the definition process will be the framework used to manage the standardisation of the language and vocabulary program for the years to come. 

Draft phase

Every member of TIC4.0 may propose work for a specific process and the concepts used in this process. Every member can create a draft version(s) of their understanding of the concept(s) to be defined.

Create phase

The Operation Council will prioritize the work and assign the draft proposal to a task force, consisting of delegates from members who are experienced in this specific concept. The task force will ‘create’ a definition using the TIC4.0 guidelines and templates, starting from the draft proposal.

Review phase

The results of the ‘Create’ process will then be submitted to the Operation Council for ‘Review’. The Operation Council will check the consistency of the work with other definitions for potential overlap and overall quality. The Operation Council may ask the task force for further refinements as necessary.

Publish phase

When the Operation Council approve the definition created, it will be put on the agenda for formal approval by the General Assembly before publication

After formal approval by the TIC4.0 General Assembly, the TIC4.0 Communication Team will arrange all publication and communication of the approved material.

Final Remarks

Industry standards, the future

Once TIC4.0 standards are adopted by all stakeholders and a common language is utilised by our industry future terminal operations will be safe, predictable, and efficient by benefiting from:

• Better connectivity between system modules and equipment from multiple suppliers, less problem solving will be necessary resulting in shorter ramp up times for individual projects.

• Consistent reliable information as interpretation and definitions are aligned amongst all stakeholders

• Better inter-operational ability between vendors/suppliers

• Improved transparency, allowing better connectivity between terminals and other port stakeholders, including shipping lines and hinterland.

• Elimination of ambiguous and confusing messages in the terminal operation environment.

• Projects and terminal integration, can be executed more effectively and efficiently and terminal operators and their suppliers can focus on operation improvements instead of solving technical interface and integration issues

Before TIC4.0 standards can be adopted by our industry, it is important that the common language results are proof tested in the real operation environment.

One of the first proof of concept projects is already happening in iTerminals 4.0:  iTerminals 4.0 is an EU-CEF approved EU funded digital infrastructural project. Some members of the TIC4.0 Association applied for participation in the iTerminals project, which was well received by the EU commission.

These members are already piloting some of the results of TIC4.0 under this iTerminals 4.0 initiative during 2020 and will continue to do so up to 2022. ( ).

Glossary

BI          Business intelligence

CMS      Crane Management System

EDI        Electronic Data Interchange (for electronic communication of business information)

LS          Landside operations of a container terminal

QC         Quay Crane

STS        Ship to Shore Crane

TOS       Terminal Operating System

References

The Box: How the Shipping Container made the world smaller and the economy bigger – Marc Levinson

Deep Sea and Foreign Going: inside Shipping, the invisible industry that brings you 90% of everything – Rose George